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Homecoming is supposed to be a joyous and grand occasion for a high school football team, especially one ranked in the top five in their class and undefeated on the year.

But North Branch’s Friday, October 3 match up with Grand Rapids was anything but joyous when the Thunderhawks jumped all over NB from the start and led 40-0 by halftime, cruising to a 40-8 win to spoil a 5-0 start from NB.

Due to a combination of big Grand Rapids’ plays and costly mistakes from North Branch, the lead ballooned quickly and got out of hand.

The Hawks started the game with a five play scoring drive that was capped off by a long 41 yard rushing touchdown.

The North Branch offense proceeded to go three and out after they committed a delay of game penalty and it took Grand Rapids only six plays to score again, this time there were two big plays, with a 32 yard rush and a 19 yard rush in the drive.

The offense again struggled in going three and out, this time they had a negative five yard rush that set them back, and the coaches knew going into the tough game that their margin for error was going to be small and any negative plays, no matter how little, were going to be backbreaking, and it came to be.

After the Vikings punted the ball to midfield down two scores, it took Rapids only one play, a 50 yard rushing touchdown, to  stretch the lead to 20-0.

The Vikings seemed to have the running back bottled up on the option play, but he snaked back across the field and raced to the corner of the endzone for the touchdown.

Already staring at a large deficit, the Vikings got aggressive on their next drive. They faced a fourth and two from their own 31 yard line and decided to go for it in a spot they would typically punt in. The Rapids’ defense was ready and stuffed them for a one yard loss and turned the ball over on downs at the NB 30 yardline.

That led to another immediate strike from Grand Rapids. On the first play, their quarterback dropped back to pass and facing heavy pressure, he heaved a pass to the front of the end zone where his wide receiver ran underneath it, just avoiding a North Branch safety trying to make a play on the ball.

The offense continued to stall out under Grand Rapids’ relentless pressure, as senior quarterback Ethan Thorsen was sacked on second down, putting the Vikings behind the sticks again, which led to another punt.

It took Grand Rapids just six plays again to score a touchdown, with the Thunderhawks running one in from five yards out to stretch the lead to 32-0.

North Branch finally got their first first down of the game with five minutes left in the first half when they went for a 13 yard run from Nolan Bahr.

But, four plays later, NB went for it on fourth down again and Thorsen couldn’t find anyone open when he dropped back to pass and tried to scramble for a first down, but was stopped short.

With another short field to work with, the Grand Rapids offense continued their onslaught, scoring a touchdown in six plays. The two point conversion was good and the Thunderhawks were up 40-0, essentially ending the homecoming festivities before the halftime break.

In the third quarter, the North Branch defense played a bit better, as the Thunderhawks left their starters in, but they held them scoreless, including a fumble recovery. 

The offense finally got going late in the fourth quarter as Rapids had their back ups in, and Thorsen scored on a 14 yard run to the left side. Logan Hammel’s two point conversion was good to give NB their only score of the game.

North Branch gets a slight reprieve this week, as they take on the 1-5 Duluth Denfeld Hunters in Duluth on Friday, October 10 at 6 p.m.

Denfeld has lost convincingly to Duluth East and Two Harbors, two teams North Branch has beaten, so it should be a bit easier match up than the Thunderhawks.

But, the Vikes then finish their season in the MEA shortened week on Wednesday, October 15 at Hermantown, who is 5-1 on the year with their only loss being to Grand Rapids, as well. The Hawks feature one of the top running backs in the state in  Martin Sleen. The junior has rushed for 1,322 yards and 22 touchdowns in six games so far this year.

The game will likely determine who is the second seed in Section 7AAAA playoffs and gets a bye and the second round home game.

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